


you didn't have to smile at me

by pensiveVisionary (hamburr)



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Extramarital Affairs, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 06:56:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11777847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hamburr/pseuds/pensiveVisionary
Summary: “Wow, Aaron, don't you look nice?” Alexander said, looking up from his book.Aaron pretended to toss his (nonexistent) hair and fluttered his eyelashes. “Thanks,” he said, with a grin. “Got a date tonight.For the prompt: "Are you flirting with me?"





	you didn't have to smile at me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [covetsubjugation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/covetsubjugation/gifts).



“Wow, Aaron, don't you look nice?” Alexander said, looking up from his book.

Aaron pretended to toss his (nonexistent) hair and fluttered his eyelashes. “Thanks,” he said, with a grin. “Got a date tonight.”

If any emotion other than ‘happy for his roommate’ flickered across Alexander’s face, it was gone in the blink of an eye. He studied Aaron for a moment longer. “Your collar’s crooked. Here, let me fix it,” he said, getting to his feet.

Being as close to Aaron as he was, he could smell the mint toothpaste on his breath, see the little scar on his cheek from an incident with a cat stepping on his face while he slept -- right. His shirt. Alexander smoothed the offending collar down, his hand lingering just a second too long at Aaron’s collarbone. Aaron blinked at him -- those lovely dark eyes -- how could he be unaware of the affect he had on Alexander? His breath caught for a moment. They were just inches away, he was so close he could kiss him --

But it wasn't for him. Alexander stepped back. “There, now you're perfect. Knock ‘em dead, pretty boy,” he said, managing a grin, and Aaron smiled back, apparently not having noticed anything off about Alexander's behavior.

“Thanks. Wish me luck,” Aaron said.

“You won't need it,” Alexander replied, playing it lighthearted, but superstitiously reluctant to wish luck upon Aaron’s mysterious date.

Aaron gave him a smile in return, that charming and radiant smile that always set Alexander’s heart racing. “Don't wait up,” he joked, and with that, he exited the apartment.

The door clicked shut behind him and Alexander flopped back onto the couch and groaned. So much for his reading. He might as well give up on the night already.

A month passed, and still all Alexander knew about Aaron’s new girlfriend was that her name was Theodosia. He was very cagey about her; all he would ever say about the time he spent with her was, “It was fine.” Alexander didn't know what the deal was. Sure, Aaron was a private person, but this was a little extreme. Had Alexander done something, said something, to make Aaron feel like he didn't want to hear about it?

(Well, it was true, he didn't, but it would at least be better than this.)

Other than that, though, life in their apartment continued as usual. Alexander stayed up too late working unless Aaron fussed at him to go to sleep; Aaron would stumble out to the kitchen in the morning and be practically still asleep until after a cup of coffee. It hurt his heart sometimes to see his sweet, sleepy face and not be able to tell him how cute he was, not be able to kiss his face and wake him up with giggles.

That was another thing, too: he was never gone all night with Theodosia, and Alexander was certain it wasn't for moving slowly in their relationship, judging by the rumpled and distracted state he sometimes returned in. He hated that, too, knowing what Aaron looked like after _intimate activities_ and not having been the other half of the experience.

But things continued. Life kept happening, even as Alexander continued pining away for his roommate. Not that he was subtle; that was never his specialty. But Aaron never noticed -- or at least, never seemed to notice -- and so he was never discouraged.

Alexander had been sent home early from work one evening -- well. Early for him. A normal time for anyone else. He set about making dinner in the absence of something better to do. Aaron was absent, at work or with Theodosia, and though Alexander didn't know if he would be back in time to eat with him, he prepared a meal with the both of them in mind.

He put the pan in the oven and wandered off to go catch up on Twitter, and promptly got so caught up in an argument that he didn't notice the smell of burning until the smoke detector started going off. He raced back to the kitchen to dispose of the burnt food, and opened the windows to let the smoke out, bringing the early November chill inside instead.

Well. So much for that plan. He would order pizza instead.

 

The pizza and Aaron arrived within minutes of each other. Alexander had just sat down to eat when the door opened again.

“Why is it so cold in here?”

“Oh. Messed up dinner. Ordered pizza instead,” Alexander said, with his mouth full. There was a jingle as Aaron placed his keys on the table beside the door, and then Aaron joined Alexander in the kitchen. “Dude, are you okay?”

Aaron did not look okay. His shirt was buttoned wrong, his posture tense and turned inward and -- oh -- was he -- no, he couldn’t be crying, Aaron never cried --

Aaron cleared his throat and sat down heavily beside Alexander. Cleared his throat again. Rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand. Looked very much like he was going to say something, and then lowered his head, closed his eyes, turned away. He took a slice of pizza from the box and looked like he was trying very hard to pretend that Alexander wasn’t watching him with concern.

Naturally, this did not last long. “Aaron, c’mon, what happened? Are you alright? No one hurt you, did they? I’ll --”

“No,” Aaron said, his voice low. “I mean, well. It’s a long story.”

Alexander’s heart raced with anxiety. “I’ve got time.”

So Aaron sighed, and finally chanced a look at Alexander, who was still looking at him with anxiety. “Theodosia and I broke up,” he said, looking away again as he spoke. The rest of his words were directed at his slice of pizza. “I, uh, so. God, I really should’ve noticed sooner, all the signs were there, I’m such an idiot --”

“You’re not an idiot.”

Aaron fixed him with a hard look. Alexander closed his mouth and let him speak. “Either way, she’d said she wanted to kind of keep our relationship quiet, which, y’know. I’m fine with that. I don’t need a big fuss or anything. But, uh, it turns out -- well, it turns out that --” He was having a difficult time getting the words out. Alexander raised his eyebrows in encouragement. “Turned out she’s married.”

Alexander’s jaw dropped.

“Yeah, that was basically my reaction. Or, would’ve been, if I had found out under any other circumstances.” Aaron made a face. Alexander waited for him to continue, knowing that if he spoke he would never hear the rest of the story. “Instead, her husband came home while we were, uh, canoodling,” -- Alexander couldn’t restrain a snicker at that word choice, and Aaron gave him the iciest look known to humankind -- “on the couch and, ah. My shirt’s buttoned wrong,” he said, noticing his rumpled appearance for the first time in his continued efforts to avoid eye contact.

He fixed the misalignment as he spoke -- no glimpses of skin to be found, of course, for Aaron was the type of man to wear an undershirt at all times. “So that happened,” Aaron continued, “and so they were just screaming at each other and I was like, do I stay, do I bolt out of the house, like what the fuck do you do in that situation? I didn’t even know she was -- that they were -- _god_ \-- and so I uh, just ended up getting out of there. I don’t even remember what I said to her. To either of them. But like, what the fuck? Why wouldn’t she have told me? I mean. I know why she wouldn’t have told me, because I wouldn’t have been in a relationship with her in the first place if I’d known, but -- that’s just so --” He cut himself off, sighing and shaking his head.

“That’s fucked up,” Alexander agreed. “I can’t believe anyone would do that to you.”

Aaron sighed again, and rested his chin in his hand. “Well, she did, so I just have to deal with it, I guess.”

Alexander frowned, casting around wildly for ideas of how to cheer Aaron up. “You know what? I think this situation calls for ice cream.”

“I think you’re right,” Aaron said. “I think I ate the last of what was in the freezer yesterday, though.”

“I guess we have no choice but to go on an adventure to 7-11, then.”

“I am never leaving this house again in my life.”

Alexander got to his feet and took Aaron by the arm, trying to pull him to his feet. Aaron resisted in equal measure. Alexander, for all his affection for Aaron, still couldn’t seem to get his competitive nature out of the way, and they had a bit of a tug-of-war until Aaron suddenly stopped pulling back, sending Alexander staggering forward -- straight into Aaron’s lap.

Aaron burst into laugher. “Oh my god, your _face_ ,” he said, and Alexander shook off his surprise and put on his best pout, crossed arms and everything, still there in Aaron’s lap.

“It’s not funny,” Alexander said, but his poker face was cracking, and in a second more they were both cracking up laughing, both of them too overwhelmed by their circumstances to do anything but laugh.

By the time they managed to quiet themselves a bit, Aaron’s arms were wrapped loosely around Alexander’s waist and his head rested against Alexander’s shoulder. The mere thought of this had given Alexander butterflies many a time, and now it was _actually happening_. Aaron made no sign of wanting Alexander to move as he wiped the tears of laughter away from his eyes. He smiled up at Alexander, dazzling as always.

“So, I heard you were going to get me ice cream?”

“Only if you come with me,” Alexander said, sticking to his terms even now.

It was Aaron’s turn to pout.

“Come on, we can put on our pajamas and go to the store in our pajamas to show how few fucks we give about anyone’s opinions.”

“But I care a lot about people’s opinions.”

“Well, that can end tonight! I like you, and I like ice cream, and I think we should make these things happen. The world is ours.”

“You’re a gigantic nerd,” Aaron said, resting his head back against Alexander’s shoulder. “Also your ass is kind of hurting my thighs.”

“Not my fault you have wimpy thighs.”

“I do not! They are perfectly normal. I’m just not usually sat on so I haven’t developed my… being sat-on muscles.”

Another mutual giggle fit.

“Okay, fine, I will admit, you have pretty nice thighs.” Oh, why had he said that? But it didn't seem to bother Aaron, who just laughed.

“Alexander Hamilton, are you flirting with me?”

A joke. He said it as a joke.

Alexander felt his face heat up. He tried desperately to find a comeback that wouldn't let his feelings slip out, but the silence stretched out too long, and --

“Oh,” said Aaron. “Oh, jeez, I didn't realize, I’m sorry --”

“No, don't be sorry, you have no reason to be sorry, you didn't know --”

“No, shit, how long have you --?”

“It doesn't matter.”

“Alexander.”

“Uh, how long have I known you, give or take a year or so?”

“Have I been living under a rock?”

“Apparently. I haven't been very subtle, I mean, unless you just thought I’m generally that flirtatious.”

“I mean…”

Alexander gave an indignant little huff, and Aaron gently headbutted his shoulder. “It's okay. I don't mind.”

How was that to be taken? The flirtatiousness, or Alexander’s feelings? Alexander moved to stand, but Aaron kept his arms around him. 

“What I mean is -- goddammit, Alexander, if I had _known_ , I could’ve avoided this whole mess of being, like, the other man in an affair, like what a catastrophe, I could have been getting ice cream with you as a date instead of as a consolation for breaking up with my girlfriend.”

“Well,” said Alexander, feeling a bit like he was leaping off a cliff, “well, why don't we get ice cream as a date and as consolation? Two birds, one stone, as it were.”

“Hmm. I like the sound of that,” said Aaron, tilting his head up to look at Alexander. Alexander couldn't breathe; he was so close to Aaron, Aaron who liked him, Aaron who wanted to go on a date with him…

Aaron closed the gap between them and pressed a soft, gentle kiss to Alexander’s lips. Alexander could almost have floated away from happiness.

“ So… It’s a date?” said Alexander.

“It's a date,” Aaron agreed. “Now get off my lap, my legs are asleep.”

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr @hambrr !!


End file.
